Science Says Crushing Your Workout Could Crush Your Libido

How many hours a week do you spend at the gym?

If you’re having some trouble staying hard and can’t figure out why, you may want to consider how much you’ve been hitting the gym recently. According to a new study, regular extreme endurance exercise might have a not-so-good effect on men’s libidos.

The study, which was published earlier this year in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal, analyzed a group of men ages 18 and older who were considered healthy, did not suffer from hormonal disorders, were not taking any prescription medications and were involved in sports. These participants completed online surveys about how often they worked out and included their libido levels.

From there, the men were divided into two groups: those with low libidos and those with normal to high libidos. Only 60 men were placed into the low libido group, while 1,017 were in the normal to high group.

A total of 33 percent of the men with normal to high libidos exercised around four to six hours per week; 35 percent spent seven to 10 hours per week exercising and 22 percent spent over 10 hours a week working out. Of the men with low libidos, 10 percent spent four to six hours per week exercising; 23 percent exercised for seven to 10 hours a week and 65 percent dedicated over 10 hours a week to the gym.

The study also looked at how intensely the men worked out and for how many years they had been exercising at that intensity. In the group with low libidos, there were more men who reported exercising intensely for long periods of time.

So it’s true that, compared with sedentary individuals, men who regularly hit the gym have higher testosterone levels, greater libidos and greater fertility. But, as for most things in life, everything should be in moderation. Go too hard at the gym and you’re girlfriend will start to feel it, too.